Chilean shares closed firmer on Friday, following gains on Wall Street, while the peso fell slightly, weighed down by worse-than-expected US jobs data, traders said. The IPSA leading share index rose 0.62 percent to close at 2,551.26 points after firming 0.72 percent on Thursday, preliminary closing data showed.
Wall Street's Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.5 percent. "It was predictable behaviour considering what we've seen for some weeks," said Rodrigo Martin, head of research with the Banchile brokerage. "We saw a less explosive return this week than on the Dow Jones, but that is explained by the good return on the bourse since the beginning of the year."
Soquimich, Chile's leading exporter of fertiliser and the world's biggest producer of iodine and lithium, rose 2.14 percent to 16,725 pesos, while steelmaker Cap rose 2.23 percent to 9,686 pesos each. Shares of regional energy group Enersis fell 0.03 percent to 172.51 pesos a share, while electricity generator Endesa Chile fell 0.12 percent to 734.08 pesos.
Chile's dominant airline, LAN, rose 1.09 percent to 5,171.10 pesos each. The peso closed 0.14 percent weaker at 578.30/578.80 per dollar, pulled down by losses on global stock markets earlier in the day. "The peso fell because of the bad employment numbers in the United States, which saw pessimism over the depth of the financial crisis return to the markets," said one currency dealer, asking not to be named. The peso has appreciated 10.8 percent so far this year, after depreciating 22.3 percent in 2008.
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